Clay/Acrylamide Hydrogels Having Fucoidan

Abstract

Hydrogels have been investigated due to their potential in a myriad of applications. The introduction of functional moiety such as sulfide has expanded their applicability. In this study, an investigation was carried out on the introduction of fucoidan into the hydrogels of clay/acrylamide. In the resulting semi-IPN nanocomposite hydrogels, the linear polysaccharide, fucoidan, has strong ionic interactions with clay. It was also confirmed from simple mixing tests that fucoidan can physically crosslink with clay without chemical crosslinks. In the semi-IPN hydrogels, equilibrium swelling ratio increased with the content of fucoidan. Elastic modulus increased with an initial increase in the content of fucoidan, and decreased with a further increase. The work of fracture results of these hydrogels showed their tough properties. These hydrogels could provide functional properties such as mucoadhesiveness with tunable hydrogel characteristics.

Anisometric nanocomposite hydrogels with temperature responsive compartments

“…Only recently, with the development of a preparation method for novel anisometric structured materials, materials research on structure-property relationships has extended to anisometric structures. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Janus particles with two compartments, or at least two different surfaces, are typical anisometric materials with intriguing properties. [12][13][14] They show an interesting self-assembly behavior mainly due to their asymmetric interactions.…”